Today, we are excited to launch our fundraising campaign to support the technology aspect of our school development plan.

In September, I shared with parents our plans to redevelop our IT infrastructure and in turn to enhance the computing provision for the children.

There are three strands to this plan:

• Move the school to a cloud based server

• Enhance the computing suite to enable this facility to meet the demands of an ever evolving computing curriculum

• Investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to support teaching and learning at St James’s.

A lot of work has been undertaken behind the scenes and we are at the exciting stage of implementation:

• We have instructed our IT provider to commence the migration from our current server to a cloud based server. The project will cost circa £30,000 and will future proof our IT infrastructure for many years.

• The plans for our new look computing suite have been agreed with the designers. We have upcoming demonstrations for technology that will fill the space, including: virtual reality headsets and media walls.

• Our AI working group, supported by parents who work in the industry, is established and is supporting the school in identifying and trialling this new technology.

As you might expect, making such a significant investment of this kind is only possible because of the school’s prudent budget management and the support of our community. Our ‘Turn up the Tech!’ campaign will enable us to meet the costs of this investment and we know the community will share our motivation to provide the children of St James’s with these fantastic facilities.        

Our goal?  To raise £100,000 to enhance our children’s learning provision with cutting-edge resources and facilities!  Teaching our children about technology in a measured and safe way has never been more important.

Please look out for some exciting fundraising events, the first being our sponsored read, where there is an opportunity to win a laptop! 

If you would like to volunteer and help assist us with this endeavour please sign up here .